Some statements can't go uncorrected

It was so nice to read the human interest story of Aref Assaf ("Giving voice to Arabs in North Jersey") that appeared March 23 in The Herald News. But Assaf makes some obvious false statements and it was disappointing that reporters Elizabeth Llorente and Carmine Galasso let these falsehoods pass without questioning him on these points. For example, Assaf states that, "I am against violence by anyone and for any reason. But the violence by Palestinians would never have achieved the level it has had it not been for the loss of their land. The occupation by Israel is terrorism at its worst form because it's not attacks by a crazy individual. It's one side keeping the occupied side from having the freedom to live, to worship, to move around."

Anyone from the four corners of the world can claim that he has been mistreated or mishandled by somebody at some time, but in a civilized society resorting to violence is not an option. Besides, Assaf cannot claim as he does that the violence was a reaction to Palestinians losing their land. Violence existed before Israel came into being in 1948 -- Jews remember all too well the Arab massacres in Hebron in 1929 and the Arab riots in 1935-36. And regarding modern history, in September 1993 Yasser Arafat wrote a letter to Yitzhak Rabin and President Clinton committing himself and the Palestinian people to a "peaceful resolution of the conflict ... the PLO renounces the use of terrorism and other acts of violence."

This was supposed to be a watershed event; obviously it was not. Thousands have been killed since the signing of that agreement.

And if Assaf wants us to believe that Palestinian violence can be rationalized, I would ask him to explain a recent poll story published in The New York Times. The poll, carried out by a Palestinian, Khalil Shikaki, reported that 84 percent of Palestinians support the attack last month at a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem that killed eight young Rabbinical students as they were studying in the school's library. The pollster interviewed 1,270 Palestinians and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points. The survey also showed unprecedented support for the shooting of rockets on Israeli towns from Gaza and for the end of the peace negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

Further, why didn't the reporters question Assaf about Palestinian freedom of worship? In Israel, unlike some Arab countries, freedom to practice one's religion is an inherent right and is unrestricted.

Finally, most people realize that "checkpoints" -- which unfortunately do restrict movement of Palestinians -- is a necessary security measure as long as attacks on Israeli civilians continue. If there were no attacks, there would be no checkpoints. Just today, following pressure by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to remove a checkpoint near Shiloh, a Fatah terrorist, carrying a 7-inch butcher knife, tried to stab an Israeli teenager. There are dozens of similar instances that go unreported by most of the Western press.

Make no mistake -- Israeli security personnel, charged with protecting Israeli citizens, do what American security officials do to protect Americans.

Jonathan Gold, MD, Clifton